This invention pertains generally to ambulatory aids and more particularly to a device attached to a crutch from which medical apparatus, such as containers for intravenous therapy and gravity flow drainage devices, may be suspended.
In the post-operative or in the early post-traumatic period it may often be desirable to have the patient ambulatory as soon as possible. Among the benefits include a shorter post-operative recovery and shorter hospital stay. However, due to the limitations of existing hospital equipment, it is often impracticable for many patients to freely move about.
For example, for patients who must continuously receive intravenous (IV) solutions, present day IV stands are unwieldy castor supported devices which are not easily moved about by the recovering patient. Similarly, patients requiring gravity flow drainage devices, such as hemovac or ready-vac devices, as well as larger devices such as chest tube filter devices may be bed ridden for want of a convenient and safe way of transporting the medical apparatus.
Often, the recoverng patient may require crutches in order to move about. It would therefore be desirable to provide such a patient with a convenient and safe means for transporting the accessory medical apparatus needed for recovery.